Just reading the various posts about the Southeastern Franchise and lack of progress. (Potentially another extension or returning to the operator of last resort). I must admit it is concerning about this franchise.
If this follows suit, when will we ever get movement on the following.
1. HST replacement. Private Eye (a quality railway journal) seems to think that the dithering is good as if no trains are ordered then if the line gets electrified then they could have EMUs rather than bi-modes. Irrespective dft specifying rolling stock is bad. Look at the exceptionally expensive IEP or the uncomfortable and unreliable class 700
I'm a Private Eye subscriber, love the magazine, but the rail articles can be a bit... simplistic... Dr B Ching's prejudices get in the way a bit.
The way I see it is that it's going to take a long time to get wires all the way to Nottingham/ Sheffield, so if we wait until ordering "pure" EMUs then that's going to mean five/ten years of delay before we can improve the environmental pollution. Can the HSTs soldier on for another decade? Is there enough slack in the system for them to all be properly overhauled like the ScotRail ones?
If we order bi-mode then we can remove fumes from St Pancras/ Luton/ Bedford the day they come into operation.
We can then cascade them to XC once the line is wired all the way to Nottingham/ Sheffield (or remove the diesel engines, maybe leave one to permit some form of hotel/limping function?).
The Intercity Express Project has given bi-mode trains a bad name but it just paints the DfT in a bad light for paying over the odds for a complicated procurement. The trains seem good enough for GWR's follow on order plus Hull Trains and TPE and the FirstGroup Open Access service - it's just the Government that's the problem.
802s will be proven technology by the time they would start on the East Midlands franchise so they should be pretty reliable from day one, not be much of a risk. We just need to get on and order them (or something broadly equivalent, if the franchise serving Derby must be seen to order Bombardier!).
The EMT franchise was meant to have finished four years ago, which is why Stagecoach haven't planned for HST replacement etc - the can has been kicked down the road without anyone taking long term decisions - another short extension would only be acceptable if someone orders replacement trains for the InterCity services (at least the rural DMUs can be solved a bit easier, given 230s or DMUs cascaded away from other TOCs).